Calbee

Calbee, Inc. (カルビー株式会社, Karubī Kabushiki-gaisha) is a major Japanese snack food maker. It was founded on April 30, 1949, and its headquarters are located in the Marunouchi Trust Tower Main in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. It launched operations at a new plant in the United States for making its mainstay products "Kappa Ebisen" shrimp chips and "Saya-endo" snow pea crisps on September 18, 2007.[3] Its snacks are hugely popular in Asia and are well known in the United States.[4][5] The company's mission statement is: "We are committed to harnessing nature's gifts, to bringing taste and fun, and to contributing to healthy lifestyles."[6]

Calbee, Inc.
カルビー株式会社
TypePublic (KK)
TYO: 2229
IndustryFood
Founded30 April 1949 (1949-04-30)
Headquarters
Marunouchi Trust Tower Main
Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
Shūji Itō, Chairman and CEO [1]
ProductsSnacks and other foods
Revenue¥248,665 million (March 2019)[2]
Number of employees
3,860
Website (Global website) (Japanese website)
Calbee headquarters

History

The company was founded in devastated post-war Hiroshima by Takashi Matsuo in 1949. His first product was the Calbee Caramel, named after the word "calcium" and vitamin B1. Due to the product's popularity, the company name was changed to Calbee in 1955.[7]

In the 1970s, Calbee partnered with Four Seas Group to introduce the company's products in Hong Kong. In 1994, the two companies formed the Calbee Four Seas joint venture company, and opened a new production plant in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate in 2000.[8]

In 1980, Calbee established Calbee Tanawat in Thailand.[7]

Calbee International launched in Hong Kong in 1992.[7]

In 2018, Calbee acquired U.K. company Seabrook Crisps. In 2019, Calbee acquired Warnock Food Products.[9]

Sponsorship
Tyrrell 021 with Calbee sponsorship.

Calbee sponsored the Tyrrell Racing F1 team from 1990 to 1994 when Japanese drivers Satoru Nakajima and Ukyo Katayama drove for the team.

The company was also one of the sponsors for the anime Tiger and Bunny. Alongside dmm.com, they sponsored the character of Dragon Kid.

References
  1. "Corporate Profile". Calbee, Inc. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  2. "Potato Chips - Calbee" (PDF).
  3. "Calbee Launches New U.S. Plant". Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  4. "Healthy" Foods That Aren't - Consumer News Story - WJAC Johnstown
  5. "Don't assume your snacks are healthy". KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington - Consumer News. Archived from the original on 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  6. "Our Mission & Values". Calbee, Inc. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  7. Ryall, Julian (1 June 2019). "Calbee: how snack foods company in post-nuclear Hiroshima became a global giant". South China Morning Post.
  8. "Our History and Milestone". Four Seas Group. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  9. "BGL Announces the Sale of Warnock Food Products to Calbee". Bloomberg.com. 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
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